In the early 160's BCE, the Jewish people were undergoing an identity crisis of a sort. The powerful influence of the Greek, or "Hellenistic", culture was drawing many away from what others saw as the correct path of the Jewish religion and culture. These differences of opinion, more and more frequently, led to violence.
The dominant power in the region was the Seleukid kingdom, centered in Syria. It was a piece of what had been Alexander the Great's empire some two hundred years before.
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| Antiochos IV of Syria, 175-164 BCE | |
| This silver tetradrachm ("tetra-dram") is roughly the size of a U.S. half dollar coin. The front features the portrait of Antiochos IV, and the back features Zeus, the Greek god to whom Antiochos IV rededicated the Jewish temple. |
Alexander's vision had been to spread Greek culture throughout the world. In keeping with this vision, when Antiochos IV learned of the fighting in Jerusalem, he used the pretext of protecting the "Hellenized" Jews as an excuse to invade Jerusalem in 168 BCE. He banned the Jewish religion and took over the Temple, rededicating it to Zeus and sacrificing animals that Jews considered "unclean" (pigs) there.
The rebellion caught fire when a Jewish priest, Mattathias, killed a fellow Jew who was about to give in to the Seleukids' demand to sacrifice at a pagan altar. He and his five sons then killed the royal commissioner, destroyed the pagan altar, and escaped to the nearby hills. Mattathias died of natural causes shortly thereafter, but left his third son Judah, known as The Maccabee ("Hammer" of God) in charge.
Under Judah, the "Hassidim" (Pius Ones) waged a guerilla campaign from the mountains against Seleukid soldier and Hellenized Jew alike for three years, finally driving the Seleukid troops out in 165 BCE. Antiochos IV died shortly thereafter while campaigning in Parthia, so we don't know whether he would have been able to reestablish his authority in Jerusalem.
The victory against Antiochos IV is celebrated each year in the Jewish holiday, Chanukka (or Hanukkah). According to tradition*, after cleansing the Temple, there was only enough oil to light the sacred lamp for one day, but it would take eight days to get more; however, miraculously, the available oil lasted the full eight days, so the light never had to be extinguished. This is the modern explanation of why candles are lit for each of the eight nights of Chanukka.
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Rahoja Jeesuksen ajalta 4 eKr. - 44 jKr. |
WHOSE COIN IS IT, ANYWAY? After the death of Herod the Great, Judaean coinage gets confusing because there were two different authorities entitled to mint coins. First were the Roman governors. Known first as Prefects, then later as Procurators, they were officials of the Roman government. They minted coins in the name of the Emperor, not their own names. Then there were the Jewish rulers, approved by Rome but not members of the Roman government. They were in charge of local affairs only. Based on the size of territory under their control and the amount of authority allowed them by Rome, they might bear the title of King, Ethnarch, or Tetrarch. To make matters worse, the Romans were constantly tinkering with the local Jewish government. They would divide Judaea into different sized pieces, administered by various sons and grandsons of Herod "The Great", many of whom also went by the name of Herod. Thus, several Herods might be simultaneously ruling different pieces of Judaea, and incidentally minting coinage. For instance, at the time of the sedition trial of Jesus, three different authorities minted coins in Judaea. Two are well known to Christians -- Pontius Pilate, the Roman procurator under whom the trial was held, and Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great, the "Tetrarch" of northwest Judaea, including the Galilee, Jesus's home territory. The third, Herod Philip (brother of Herod Antipas) was the Tetrarch of northeastern Judaea. Fortunately for our sanity, only Herod Antipas was using the name "Herod" (HPWD in Greek) on coins at the time. His brother used Philip (FILI P). |
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| Herod Archelaus,
Ethnarch, 4 BCE - 6 CE |
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| This perutah features a bunch of grapes and the name "HRWDOY" (Of Herod) in Greek on the obverse, and a tall helment with crest and cheek straps, along with the title "EXNAPXOY" (Ethnarch) in Greek, on the reverse. (Hendin 505) |
Upon Herod's death, Emperor Augustus divided the Judaean kingdom among his three sons. The largest piece was given to his eldest son, Herod Archelaus. Augustus gave him the title "Ethnarch", rather than King. Augustus told him that he would have to earn the title of King. But Archelaus was hated even worse than his father. Both the Jews and Samaritans petitioned Rome to have him removed.
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| Marcus Ambibulus, Prefect, 9-12 CE | |
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This bronze perutah features a stalk of
barley with
KAIC
AROC (Greek for Caesar) on
the obverse, and a date palm on the reverse.
The date
consists of the Greek letters L
LF, which identifies this
as being from
year 39 of Augustus's reign, or 9 CE.
Ambibulus was the second prefect under Augustus, and
ruled with relatively little controversy.
On this example, the KAICA is relatively clear to the left of the barley stalk but the rest is worn mostly away. The reverse is off-center and the top of the palm tree is lost, but the date is visible. The L is under the left-hand cluster of dates, and the LF can be seen to the right of the trunk, with the L directly under the date cluster. (Hendin 636) |
In 6 CE, Archelaus was banished and his territories were formally annexed by Rome to its Syrian province. Augustus appointed a Roman Governor (originally called "Prefect", then later, "Procurator") appointed to rule the region, though he answered to the Governor of Syria.
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| Herod Antipas, Tetrarch, 4 BCE to 40 CE |
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| This coin is a double-perutah. The obverse features a palm branch and the legend HRWDOU TETRARCOU (Herod, Tetrarch), and the date LLG (year 33, or 29 CE). The reverse features a wreath; inside is TIBEPIAC (Tiberias), the city in which it was minted, named for the then-current emperor Tiberius. (Hendin 513) |
Another of Herod I's sons, Herod Antipas , did somewhat better with the territories willed to him. He, however, is the most reviled of all the Herodians among Christians; it was he who ordered John the Baptist beheaded to please his stepdaughter, Salome, and it was he to whom Pontius Pilate sent Jesus, since Jesus was a Galilean, and Antipas's territories included the Galilee.
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| Pontius Pilate, Procurator | |
| This perutah features three stalks of
barley (two drooping) with the Greek legend
IOULIA KAICAROC on
the obverse, and a
simpulum (ladle) with the Greek legend TIBERIOU
KAICAROC ("Of Tiberius,
Caesar") on the reverse. The simpulum was an affront to Jews, since it was used by Roman priests in sacrificing to pagan gods. It might have been ignorance or a deliberate insult. The three stalks of barley on the obverse seem inoffensive enough. But they are bound, and two are drooping. Some speculate that this is a reference to the Jews "wilting" in Roman captivity. Compare it to the three "perky" unbound stalks of barley on the coin of Herod Agrippa I below. (Hendin 648) |
Probably the most infamous of the Roman governors was Pontius Pilate. Christians know him as the Governor who convicted Jesus of sedition. He also showed either insensitivity to or complete ignorance of the Jewish religious attitudes and customs. He imported busts of the Emperor, a direct affront to the Jewish proscription against graven images. Also, on his coins, he used pagan cult symbols abhorrent to the Jews of that day. He was finally recalled to Rome.
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| Herod Agrippa, King, 37-44 CE | |
| This bronze perutah features a fringed canopy on the obverse and three stalks of wheat on the reverse. Note the absence of portraits, or anything that could be considered a "graven image" under Jewish law. It was minted in Jerusalem. Agrippa's coins minted outside Jerusalem, however, usually featured the face of either the Roman emperor or of Agrippa himself. (Hendin 553) |
Things were a bit better under Herod Agrippa, a grandson of Herod I. In him were combined the blood lines of the Hasmoneans (whose memory was still revered) and the Herodians. He was also well liked in Rome, by both the emperor Caligula and his successor, Claudius . As boys, Agrippa and Caligula had been playmates. Agrippa had run afoul of the emperor Tiberius , who threw him into prison; but he was released and made King of Judaea when Tiberius died and Caligula came to power. For seven years, Judaea had a Jewish king again, though he still answered to Rome.
* The irony of Masada was that Herod's stronghold, intended to be used (if necessary) against the Jewish population, would later be used by the anti-Roman Jewish "Zealots"; so well was it laid out that it would take the Romans four years to dislodge them.
** An interesting side bar is that, since the Christian New Testament places the birth of Jesus in the reign of Herod I, it is clear that the monk who calculated the "year 1" based on the birth of Jesus committed an error. Current best estimates place the birth of Jesus somewhere between 2 BCE and 1 BCE.